


Love in the Time of (Framework) Hydra

by wintergalaxy



Series: pieces of a life [10]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I’m in a confessions mood okay, Love Confessions, Quadruple Drabble, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 08:51:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19971328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintergalaxy/pseuds/wintergalaxy
Summary: May says those words a season earlier.





	Love in the Time of (Framework) Hydra

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whistlingwindtree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whistlingwindtree/gifts).



> Philinda + “I want(ed) to protect you” for whistlingwindtree.
> 
> With angst because I’m taking all these prompts super seriously instead of coming up with fluff.
> 
> (Also, unsure whether I should call them by their first or last names here? I chose last names because that’s how they canonically refer to each other, but I understand if people would prefer I use the firsts.)

It had been seven hours. 

Seven hours since they’d escaped the Framework and Ivanov’s submarine. Seven hours since Coulson had been thrown for such a complete loop that for the first time in his life, he no longer knew how to interact with May.

Now was definitely not the time, but the words kept ringing in his head, louder and louder, demanding to be addressed.

_I love you_. Then, _I thought that would shut you up._

Coulson rubbed his good hand across his face. 

She knew him too well. _Of course_ he’d been unable to do anything but gape at her, leaving her free to stalk off in the aftermath of that bomb. 

And now it was all so awkward, and he hated it.

To hell with it. They weren’t junior agents at the Academy anymore; they were adults who could handle this. He stood up and crossed the distance to where May sat before one of the _Zephyr_ ’s screens, her expression somehow both stony and dejected. The agents around her scattered upon his approach.

“Melinda.”

Her posture indicated she heard, but beyond that, she made no effort to acknowledge him.

Coulson sighed.

He tried to make his voice as gentle as possible. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“Why didn’t _you_?” she retorted. 

(Of course; of course she already knew he felt the same, why was he even surprised?)

But Coulson didn’t know how to answer that without mentioning that he might have accidentally fallen for her LMD. They lapsed into silence again.

Strangely, she was the one who broke it.

“I wanted to protect you.” Her eyes were far away, determinedly not meeting his.

Coulson stared anyway. “From...from what?”

“Me.”

Silence again. His mind reeled. _What even_...

Another few seconds, and he recovered, reaching forward and placing his hand atop hers. 

“Why would I ever want to be protected from you?”

May finally— _finally_ —looked at him. “All I do is hurt people.” 

This line of thought couldn’t stand.

“No, May,” he said, shaking his head. “All you do is _help_ people.”

_Now let me help you._

Her lip trembled, and she looked like she wanted to argue. But then she moved—stiffly, as though warring within herself about it—to lean against him. Tears fell on his shoulder, and he pulled her tightly against him, squeezing, not caring who saw them.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, May is emotional here, but she’s been through a lot. It’s been a while since I’ve watched s4, but from what I remember, I imagine I’d feel guilty about a lifetime selling people out for experimentation too, even if none of it was real. Especially since May has a past with other Inhumans re Bahrain and Daisy. Coulson is just Coulson, feeling guilty about LMD May but not nearly as much angst. I know all those issues aren’t resolved here but there’s only so much you can do in a few hundred words.


End file.
